Importing Wood Packaging Material from All Countries

1 May 2006

wood-packaging

Pursuant to Section 22 of the Biosecurity Act (1993)

ISSUED: 1 May 2006

CONTENTS

1. Official Contact Point
2. General Import Requirements
3. Specific Import Requirements for Wood Packaging Material
4. Requirements on Arrival in New Zealand
5. Appendix 1 Approved Methods Of Treatment According To ISPM15
6. Appendix 2 Systems Acceptable For The Marking Of Wood Packaging Materials Treated According To ISPM 15
7. Appendix 3 Other Treatments Approved For New Zealand

Please note:

This import health standard comes into force on 1 May 2006. The enforcement of the standard will be phased in over two months.

Between 1 May and 30 June 2006:

• Consignments will be risk profiled and a subset of these will be selected for inspection.
• Any wood packaging found to have pests will be treated, reshipped or destroyed.
• Wood packaging that is non-compliant will be tagged with an advisory notice to the importer.

From 1 July 2006:

• Wood packaging must comply with the import requirements.
• Consignments will be risk profiled and a subset of these will be selected for inspection.
• Any non-compliant wood will be treated, reshipped or destroyed.

1 Official Contact Point

1.1 The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is the official contact point in New Zealand for overseas National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPO) and importers. Any enquiries about this import health standard and requests for copies of this standard should be addressed to:

Manager, Biosecurity Standards Group
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington,
NEW ZEALAND

Fax: 64 4 819-0662
E-mail: plantimports@maf.govt.nz

http://www.maf.govt.nz

1.2 Import health standards for forest produce and other related documents are available at the following web site address:

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/forests

2 General Import Requirements

2.1 SCOPE

2.1.1 This import health standard describes the phytosanitary requirements that must be met for wood packaging material to be given biosecurity clearance into New Zealand.

2.1.2 Regulated Commodities

Wood packaging material is defined as wood or wood products (excluding paper products) used in material supporting, protecting or carrying a commodity (includes dunnage) [ISPM Pub. No. 15, 2002].

Wood packaging material includes items such as dunnage, crates, fillets, spacers, pallets, drums, and reels. Although exempt from ISPM 15, peeler cores are regulated by New Zealand MAF under this standard when they are used for wood packaging.

2.1.3 Commodities Exempt

Wood packaging made wholly of manufactured wood such as plywood, particleboard, oriented strand board, fibreboard, veneer, and chip board are regulated according to the Import Health Standard Wooden Panels from All Countries.

Wood packaging material such as sawdust, wood wool, and shavings, are regulated according to the Import Health Standard Sawdust, Wood Chips, Wood Shavings, and Wood Wool from All Countries.

Animal crates used for the transportation of live animals by air and wine barrels are regulated by the Import Health Standard Woodware from All Countries.

Thin wood, which is considered to be 6mm thickness or less, is exempt from the requirement of this standard.

2.2 REFERENCES

2.2.1 This import health standard has been developed under the requirements of the Biosecurity Act (1993) and in regard to New Zealand’s obligations under the International Plant Protection Convention (1997).

Compliance with the provisions of this import health standard does not absolve the importer of the need to comply with other laws relating to or prohibiting the importation of goods (e.g. Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989, Customs and Excise Act 1996).

2.2.2 This import health standard refers to the following documents:

• International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures, Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms, Pub. No. 5, 2001. http://www.ippc.int (ISPM 5)
• International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures, Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade, Pub. No. 15, 2001. http://www.ippc.int (ISPM 15)

2.3 DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

2.3.1 Any terms defined in the Biosecurity Act (1993) or by the International Plant Protection Convention (1997) and used in but not otherwise defined in this import health standard have the same meaning as in the Act, or as in ISPM Pub. No. 5, 2001.

Bark-free wood Wood from which all bark excluding vascular cambium, ingrown bark around knots, and bark pockets between rings of annual growth has been removed [ISPM Pub. No. 15, 2002]

Inspector As defined by the Biosecurity Act 1993, Part 1, 2 (1)

ISPM 15 International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures, Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade, Pub. No. 15, 2001. http://www.ippc.int

MAF The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, New Zealand

NPPO National Plant Protection Organisation

3. SPECIFIC IMPORT REQUIREMENTS FOR WOOD PACKAGING MATERIAL

3.1 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

3.1.1 Imported wood packaging material must be:

1. Free of regulated pests
2. Free of extraneous material (e.g. leaves, soil)
3. Bark-free
4. Treated according to section 3.2
5. Certified according to section 3.3

3.2 TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS

3.2.1 Wood packaging must be treated according to the schedules set out in ISPM 15 (Appendix 1) OR according to the treatments in Appendix 3.

3.3 CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

3.3.1 Wood packaging treated to the ISPM 15 standard (see Appendix 1) must be marked according to Appendix 2 or certified as per 3.3.2.

3.3.2 Wood packaging treated with other treatments (Appendix 3) must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with the treatment detailed in the Treatment Section or a NPPO-endorsed treatment certificate. Only original certificates are acceptable.

4 REQUIREMENTS ON ARRIVAL IN NEW ZEALAND

The importer shall meet all costs specified in the Biosecurity (Costs) Regulations associated with the inspection, identification of organisms and clearance of goods imported under this standard. Any treatment, if required, will be at the importer's expense.

4.1 INSPECTION ON ARRIVAL IN NEW ZEALAND

4.1.1 MAF will risk profile all cargo consignments and will select a subset for inspection.

4.1.2 Each consignment that is selected by the risk profile will be assessed to determine if it contains wood packaging and, if so, the compliance status of that wood packaging.

4.1.3 If the wood packaging is not accompanied by the proper certification or marked according to section 3.3., the wood packaging material will be considered untreated.

4.1.4 Wood packaging material that does not comply with this Import Health Standard will be treated, reshipped or destroyed under the direction of MAF and at the importers expense.

4.1.5 All inspections completed on arrival in New Zealand must be carried out in the port area or at a transitional facility approved by MAF.

4.1.6 Consignments that are not specifically selected by the risk profile may also be subject to inspection by MAF at a transitional facility or port of arrival. If the consignment contains untreated or ineffectively treated wood packaging material, the wood packaging material will be treated, reshipped or destroyed.

4.2 TRANSIT REQUIREMENTS

4.2.1 Consignments arriving in New Zealand and bound for other countries must meet the import requirements of this standard.

4.2.2 Departure to other countries from the port of arrival within 14 days will meet the reshipment conditions of this standard to bring the consignment into compliance.

4.3 ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN ON THE INTERCEPTION/DETECTION OF ORGANISMS/CONTAMINANTS

4.3.1 All live organisms detected on or in imported wood packaging material may be identified, at the discretion of MAF, to determine the regulatory status of the organism. Identifications will be carried out regardless of prior or subsequent treatment(s) or action(s) applied to the wood packaging material.

4.3.2 Wood packaging material contaminated with bark, soil, or other extraneous organic material (e.g. leaves, twigs) shall have the contaminating material removed (if possible) or treated, re-shipped or destroyed.

4.3.3 If regulated pests are intercepted/detected on or in the wood packaging material, the following actions will be undertaken if deemed to be appropriate in the circumstances:

• Reshipment of the consignment, lot, or wood packaging material;
• Treatment (where possible) of the consignment, lot, or wood packaging material at the discretion of the Inspector;
• Destruction of the consignment, lot, or wood packaging material in an appropriate manner at the discretion of the Inspector;
• Identification of the importer, agent or supplier, and an alert profile applied to stop all, or a sample of subsequent consignments for inspection as risk goods;
• The suspension of the pathway, until the cause of the non-compliance is investigated, identified and rectified to the satisfaction of New Zealand MAF

4.3.4 All treatments completed on arrival in New Zealand shall be carried out in a transitional facility approved by MAF. Goods must be treated by a MAF approved treatment supplier or under the supervision of MAF or an Independent Verification Agency.

4.4 BIOSECURITY CLEARANCE

4.4.1 If the requirements of this import health standard have been met, and regulated pests are not detected or are successfully treated following interception/detection, biosecurity clearance will be given.

APPENDIX 1

APPROVED METHODS OF TREATMENT ACCORDING TO ISPM 15

1. Heat Treatment

All wood packaging material must be heated to a minimum internal wood core temperature of 56°C for 30 minutes. Kiln-drying, chemical pressure impregnation, or other treatments may be used as a means of achieving heat treatment provided that the above temperature and time requirements are met.

OR

2. Fumigation

Wood may be fumigated with methyl bromide at normal atmospheric pressure at the following rates:

Temperature	Dosage g/m3	Minimum concentration (g/m3) at:
		2 hrs.	4 hrs.	12 hrs.	24 hrs.
21o C or above	48	36	31	28	24
16o C or above	56	42	36	32	28
10o C or above	64	48	42	36	32

The minimum temperature should not be less than 10^o C and the minimum exposure time should be 24 hours. Note: Existing wood packaging treated with Methyl Bromide for 16 hours will be accepted provided it is marked according to appendix 2.

Please note that methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting substance and, as such, its use is not encouraged when alternatives are available. Although its use as a quarantine treatment presently exempts it from consumption controls under the Montreal Protocol, it is not known how long this exemption will remain in effect.

APPENDIX 2

SYSTEMS ACCEPTABLE FOR THE MARKING OF
WOOD PACKAGING MATERIALS TREATED ACCORDING TO ISPM 15

Wood packaging material that has been treated by one of the methods specified in Appendix 1 and in a manner that is officially endorsed by the NPPO of the country from which the wood packaging materials originates may be permitted entry into New Zealand provided the wood packaging materials material is marked as follows:

1. The mark must at minimum include:

• the IPPC symbol for treated wood packaging materials (as per Annex II of the "International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures #15: Guidelines for Regulating Wood packaging materials Material in International Trade") as reproduced here.

Where XX represents the International Standards Organization two letter country code for the country in which the wood packaging is produced and 000 represents the official certification number issued to the facility producing the compliant wood packaging by the National Plant Protection Organization and YY represents the treatment carried out (e.g. HT for heat treated wood or MB for methyl bromide treated wood).

2. NPPOs or producers may at their discretion add control numbers or other information used for identifying specific lots. Other information may also be included provided it is not confusing, misleading, or deceptive.

3. Markings should be:

• legible
• permanent and not transferable (tags are not allowed)
• placed in a visible location on at least two opposite sides of the article being certified

4. The colors: red or orange should be avoided.

5. Recycled, remanufactured or repaired wood packaging material should be re-certified and remarked. All components of such material should have been treated.

APPENDIX 3

OTHER TREATMENTS APPROVED FOR NEW ZEALAND

1. Fumigation with phosphine at 1.41 g/m³ minimum atmospheric concentration for more than 72 hours, and at a minimum temperature of 10 ^OC and a maximum temperature of 30 ^OC.
   • Note: Phosphine fumigation may ONLY be used on wood packaging material that is no thicker than 50 mm and has a moisture content of less than 25%.
2. Chemical preservation to full sapwood penetration as specified in the following table:

Chemical	Minimum Retention
Boron compounds (insecticidal and limited fungicidal protection)	0.1% Boric Acid equivalent minimum loading in the sapwood core for Soft Wood 0.2% mass/mass sapwood core for Hardwood
Copper + didecyldimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC) (insecticidal & fungicidal protection)	0.35% mass/mass OR 2.8 kg/m3 in softwood timbers, 5.60 kg/m3 in hardwood timbers.
Copper azole (insecticidal & fungicidal protection)	0.23% mass/mass OR 1.35 kg/m3 in softwood timbers, 2.7 kg/m3 in hardwood timbers.
Copper Chrome Arsenic (CCA) (insecticidal & fungicidal protection)	0.32% mass/mass OR 3kg/m3 minimum preservative retention
Propiconaole and Tebuconazole (insecticidal & fungicidal protection)	Minimum retention of 0.3% Propinazole + 0.03% Tebuconazole m/m.

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